THE WEEK AHEAD, July 6-12: First Date and Forever Tango Begin on Broadway; Far From Heaven and Silence! End

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06 Jul 2013

Kelli O'Hara

Photo by Joan Marcus

Playbill.com's weekly planner reminds you that summer theatre festivals heat up NYC… Kelli O'Hara spends her last night in Heaven… Broadway has its First Date with a pair of TV stars… Forever Tango returns… and Bryant Park gets its annual dose of Broadway. We're going to the Festival(s) this WEEK AHEAD!

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Saturday, July 6 GO→ The Lincoln Center Festival kicks off its summer in the city with a slate of shows from ten different countries at venues around the Lincoln Center campus. Its first production, Monkey: Journey to the West, will be a dance-martial arts spectacle from China featuring music and animation from Gorilliaz duo Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett (July 6-28). Other highlights include a John Malkovich-directed production ofLes Liaisons Dangereuses featuring young actors from Paris' Théâtre de l'Atelier (July 9-14), The Blind, an a capella opera from Russian-born composer and pianist Lera Auerbach (July 9-14) and Sinead O'Connor singing soul and gospel songs in The Gospel Sessions (July 26-27). (Through July 28, Lincoln Center, multiple venues. Info/tickets.)

LAST CHANCE→ The hilarious musical parody Silence! The Musical will end its lengthy Off-Broadway run. The Hunter Bell-Jon and Al Kaplan satire takes on the famous '90s flick about the sinister Hannibal Lecter (Sean McDermott) who forms an unlikely bond with rookie FBI agent, Clarice Starling (Laura Jordan) in order to find a cross-dressing killer named Buffalo Bill (David Ayers). (The Elektra Theatre, 669 8th Ave., at 42nd St. Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets.)

Monday, July 8 GO→ It's a great night for a fun triple-bill at 54 Below! First up is an encore performance from Tony winner Steve Kazee and his alt-country band The Shiny Liars (7 PM, through July 13). Following with a 9:30 PM show is two-time Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz returning to the Broadway basement venue with his show Girls, Girls, Girls — featuring the songs of artists like Frank Sinatra, Loretta Lynn and Elvis Costello (through July 19). And finally at 11:30 PM, the late-night crowd will enjoy a show from current Wicked star Lindsay Mendez and composer-lyricist Ryan Scott Oliver called Actor Therapy, featuring performers from the pair's weekly master class series. Songs run the gamut from classic to pop. (54 Below, 254 W. 54th St., btwn. Broadway & 8th Ave. Info/tickets.)

Tuesday, July 9 PREVIEWS→ The first new musical of the 2013-14 Broadway season, First Date, begins its run at the Longacre Theatre. "Smash" star Krysta Rodriguez and "Chuck" star Zachary Levi play a pair of mismatched New York City daters. Bill Berry (producing director at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre, where the show debuted) will direct the show, which features a score by Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner (Secondhand Lions, Twice Charmed). Officially opens Aug. 8. (Longacre Theatre, 220 W. 48th St., btwn. Broadway & 8th Ave. Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets.)

Wednesday, July 10 GO→ Encores!, the acclaimed series that launched in 1994 dedicated to reviving rare American works, kicks off a new series called Encores! Off-Center, dedicated to breathing new life into Off-Broadway shows. The Cradle Will Rock, Marc Blitzstein's groundbreaking, 1937 pro-union musical originally directed by Orson Welles, will launch the series in a production helmed by Sam Gold. Danny Burstein, Eisa Davis, Raúl Esparza, Judy Kuhn, Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Anika Noni Rose star. (Through July 13, New York City Center, 131 W. 55th St., btwn. 6th & 7th Aves. Info/tickets.)

Thursday, July 11 GO (FREE)→ The popular lunchtime music series, Broadway in Bryant Park, kicks off with performances from the casts of Stomp; Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella; Pippin; Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812; and iLuminate: Artist of Light. The series will continue every Thursday through Aug. 15. (12:30 PM, Bryant Park, 6th Ave., btwn. 40th & 42nd Sts. Info.)

Friday, July 12 GO→ The New York Musical Theatre Festival (aka NYMF) kicks off this week in NYC. NYMF bills itself as the "largest annual musical theatre event in the world" with close to three-dozen productions in area venues around the city. NYMF served as the launch pad for shows like Next to Normal, [title of show], Altar Boyz and Chaplin. Main stage highlights from this 10th annual festival include: Life Could Be A Dream, the next doo-wop-flavored musical from the creator of The Marvelous Wonderettes; The Brontës, a rock musical about the famous literary family that brought you classics like "Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights"; Homo The Musical!, a campy rock musical about an alien from Planet Homo invading religious Middle America; and Feather, a multimedia musical about a human rights attorney that discovers her husband was a child refugee. (July 8-28, various Manhattan venues. Info/tickets.)

Blake Ross is the editor of Playbill magazine. Follow her on Twitter @PlaybillBlake.